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June 30, 2018

Any gaming aficionado would love it: A space age fighter jet cockpit
with information on weapons locking systems, enemy planes and flight
information flashing on the windshield.

This high-tech system is
likely to be adapted soon for fighter aircraft in India with technology
developed indigenously. The head-up display (HUD) has been developed by
the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) in Chandigarh, a
constituent unit of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
(CSIR).

The technology, which CSIO started developing from
scratch after the UK,USA, France and Israel declined to share it with
India, was first adapted for the indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas,
says director, CSIO, Prof RK Sinha.

Now, a plot display unit
(PDU) similar to HUD is being developed for BAE Systems Hawk, a British
single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft under licence
manufacturing in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

A
helmet mounted display for fighter aircraft and gun sight (enabling
aiming of a gun accurately) for Dornier aircraft are also in the
pipeline.

Dr Vinod Karar, chief scientist, optical devices and
systems, heading the development of the PDU for the Hawk-i aircraft,
said the CSIO was developing a customised low-profile unit.

Explaining
why the technology developed for Tejas had an edge over its global
competitors, he said it had multiple operational modes, including low
visibility and standby sight mode if a mission computer failed to guide
and aid the pilot, high display brightness, high contrast ratio with
maximum display luminance, high degree of accuracy and precision, wide
field of view and no forced air cooling or internal fan for the heat
generated in the system, resulting in reduction in cockpit noise for
improved pilot comfort.

A total of 68 such HUDs have been produced by CSIO Chandigarh and Bharat Electronics Limited, Panchkula.

“Since
the HUD is the prime flight display viewed by the pilot from his or her
seat, its technology was denied to India. Hence, CSIO made its design
and customised it to multiple aircraft platforms, in the process
achieving design excellence, bringing India on the select list of
countries who can design and manufacture the complex technology of HUD,”
said the CSIO director.

The indigenous HUD is cheaper by Rs 40 lakh when compared to offerings by others.

HUD
variants had been developed for LCA Tejas for both the Indian Air Force
and Navy and other aircraft. “Our design offers compact size, low
weight and power consumption,” Prof Sinha added.

Understanding head-up display ::

Flying
a fighter aircraft at supersonic speeds is no easy task. Unlike
conventional cockpits with traditional styled analog dials which
diverted a pilot’s attention as he had to take his eyes off the skies to
monitor flight information, the glass cockpit eases his workload by
providing flight, aircraft and weapon information in his line of sight.

The
windshield glass has a unique coating with material or combination of
materials so as to reflect green wavelength, to which human eyes are
most sensitive, while allowing a clear view ahead.

Other technologies being developed ::

Gunsight
for Dornier aircraft: CSIO is also developing a customised gunsight
used for accurately aiming a weapon, for surveying and for sight setting
on a particular range.

Helmet mounted display for fighter aircraft ::

The
helmet mounted display is an advanced version of head-up display. It
projects critical flight and aircraft information for the pilot through
the helmet visor. Its proposed features and advantages include high off
boresight (aligning barrel of a firearm with sight) capability for
fighter aircraft, first-look, first-shoot, air-to-air visualisation,
improvement in pilot situational awareness, faster target acquisition
and improved system accuracy and less exposure time and better sensor
cueing. CSIO is developing the technology in collaboration with a
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab.